


fire, meet gasoline

by mylittleshipocean



Category: Brooklyn Nine-Nine (TV)
Genre: F/F, I'll probably add to the tags when I've written more, Soulmate AU, Soulmate-Identifying Marks
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-03-02
Updated: 2017-03-23
Packaged: 2018-09-27 22:57:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,755
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10055690
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mylittleshipocean/pseuds/mylittleshipocean
Summary: Imagine the soulmate AU where the first words your soulmate will say to you is tattooed on your wrist, but Person A’s tattoo is something completely ridiculous or nonsensical.





	1. it's dangerous to fall in love

**Author's Note:**

> I am TRASH. I started this a few weeks ago, it was actually the first dianetti fanfic I started but now I've finished one and have like 5 in progress so...  
> I was going to wait until I'd written all of this to post it in one go but I got bored and I'm finding Rosa's childhood so much harder to write than Gina's. Maybe it's because I've projected everything I am onto Gina...idk...

Gina’s parents hadn’t been soulmates. She was the product of what the cool kids called ‘an accident’. Her father had taken off the moment her mother had told him she was pregnant and neither of them ever saw him again. Despite this her mother never said a bad word against love. As it was just the two of them, they'd stuck together through thick and thin and Darlene had always encouraged her daughter to follow her heart. Sometimes they’d both sit together and talk about what their tattoos could mean. Gina was adamant that her tattoo obviously meant she was going to be some amazing badass – frankly “Stop it with the flamethrowers” wasn’t hard to interpret. This often lead to Gina being thought of as too eccentric. She didn’t make friends easily, not for lack of trying, other children just weren’t interested in her. Lucky for her Gina Linetti had grown up self-sustaining.

 

She met Jake when they were six years old. The first day of the new school year Darlene’s car had refused to start so Gina had arrived 20 minutes late. The only seat free was next to a skinny, gap-toothed kid with long hair. She’d slumped down into the chair beside him and thrown her bag down next to her.  
He looked at her confusedly for a few seconds before his face split into a grin “Jacob Peralta. Jake to everyone except my Grandma”  
“Hi!” She smiled back “Regina Linetti, but you can call me The Ultimate Human”  
“Okay, The Ultimate Human” Jake had called her that for the rest of the week. He was alright.

Everyday after school they'd both go round to Jake's grandmother's house. She would always make pair sit at the kitchen table and do whatever homework they'd received that day. Despite her best efforts they'd often end up on the living room floor in a pile of pillows. Some nights if their mothers had to work late they'd sleep over. It was after one such night when it first happened. Gina’s mother had come to pick her up and she was saying goodbye.  
“Goodbye, Pineapples” The old woman said, hugging Jake to her and kissing the crown of his head “Bye, Goose” She said ruffling the little girl's hair.  
Gina stood up on her tip-toes and kissed the old woman on the cheek “Bye, Nana” It was an accident, nothing more than a slip of the tongue, but the way the woman’s eyes lit up made Gina vow to call her that for the rest of her life.  
And just like that Darlene and Gina Linetti were part of the family.

 

The day Jake’s father left he didn’t come to school. As soon as the bell rang at the end of the day Gina ran all the way to his house and let herself in.  
“Jake!” She called, searching his house, but there was no reply. She found his mother in the kitchen. The cup of tea on the table in front of her hand long since gone cold “Karen?”  
The woman didn’t look up.  
“Karen?” She repeated cautiously, tentatively placing a hand on her shoulder.  
Karen Peralta jumped at the contact, she hadn’t heard her calling her name “Gina, what are you doing here?”  
“Jake didn’t come to school today. It felt like something was wrong.”  
Despite her clearly tear-filled eyes, Karen smiled “You’re a good friend, Gina”  
“Thank you. I’m the best friend. But really, what’s wrong, Karen? Where’s Jake?”  
She got up to pour her hours old coffee down the drain “He’s at Nana’s.”  
“Something bad happened, didn’t it?” Gina asked, pulling up a chair.  
“Yes, Gina, it did”  
“Are you okay?” She was close to grinding her teeth in frustration, Jake’s mom was obviously avoiding her question.  
“Not really, sweetie.” Running a hand through Gina’s curly hair affectionately, she grimaced “Jake’s dad is gone”  
“Gone? Like on vacation?”  
She chuckled darkly “Kind of. Except he’s not coming back”  
“Is he dead?” Gina blurted out, unable to stop herself. Her impulsiveness was both a blessing and a curse.  
“No. He’s left me. Left Jake.”  
“Oh. Then he’s a dick”  
“Gina!” Karen admonished the redhead, shocked that a little girl was fluent in profanity.  
“What, it’s true! Any man who leaves his wife and seven year old son for no reason is a dick. My dad’s one too”  
“Well, yes. Just don’t go telling you mother that you know that word”  
“Who do you think taught it to me?” She giggled. Then her face sobered as a sudden thought crossed her mind “Karen, was Roger you soulmate?  
“Yes, mores the pity”  
“I guess you don’t believe in the whole soulmate shit then?” She paused “…Don’t tell Mom I said that one”  
The older woman chuckled, the little girl had always been her favourite of all the friends her son had had over the years “I used to”  
“I don’t.” Gin stated matter of factly “I don’t think it’s fair to have your decisions decided for you just because of some stupid mark you were born with. Soulmates are dumb”  
“Amen.” She said, wrapping an arm around Gina “Wait how did you get here? Sweetie, did you walk here all by yourself?”  
“Actually I ran”  
“So no one knows where you are? Oh God, I have to get you back”  
That was the first time Gina got in trouble for going missing. Apparently adults didn’t like it when kids disappeared without a word. Karen Peralta told Darlene what Gina had said about soulmates. The ginger woman was not as shocked to learn that her daughter didn’t believe in soulmates as one would expect – no one could tell Gina what to do, not even her own body.

 

The older they got, the more their classmates started to pay attention to Gina. Her loud personality became less of an annoyance and more of a spectacle. Like moths they were drawn to her effervescent flame. They just tolerated Jake because he was friends with the coolest girl in school. People came and went from their little friendship group, never staying for long. For years, the only constant in their lives remained each other.  
After they got caught sneaking out together one night to go to a party, their mothers sent them to a youth outreach program for the NYPD to ‘keep them out of trouble’. Gina mocked the program mercilessly, repeatedly saying that they’d never “straighten her out” a hilarious joke to no one but herself and Jake. It wasn’t like she deliberately hid the fact that she could, people were just so oblivious and had some need to be outright told.

 

When Jake suddenly announced that he was going to join the police, Gina thought it was a joke.  
“Yeah right, and I’m going to become an business woman”  
“No, Gina, I’m serious”  
Her face fell “No, Jake! How could you betray me like this”  
“I’m not betraying you. I just think I could do some real good”  
“No…” She whined “We made a pact. You and I were supposed to take over New York, then the country, then the world”  
“Oh come on that stuff wasn’t serious”  
“I was dead serious. I never joke about world domination! God I can’t believe you’d do this to me” She stormed off into the bedroom and slammed the door.

“Gina” he knocked on the door “Can you unlock the door so we could talk?”  
After a few seconds the lock clicked and the door opened. Gina retreated to the bed and sat on the edge. Jake followed her like a little puppy and perched beside her.  
“Why are you really mad?”  
“I told you – you’re a traitor”  
“I know. But I don’t believe you. I know you, Gina. You act like you’re mad at the world because you’re scared”  
“I am not scared” She spat the last word as if spitting venom from her mouth.  
“Talk to me”  
She curled up into a ball on the bed “No” Her voice was muffled, her head buried in the pillow.  
In the sternest voice he could master he admonished her “Linetti”  
With a hefty sigh she flopped over so that she was facing him, but her eyes remained closed, s if she couldn’t bear to look at him. Whether it was out of contempt for Jake or herself was unclear “You have your life all figured out! Everyone knows what they want to do and I’m just here, existing. I don’t know what I’m doing.”  
“Come here” He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her to his chest “You, Gina Linetti, are the most amazing person I’ve ever known. You are always going to land on your feet, no matter what happens”  
Gina sniffed and wiped her tearful eyes on his plaid shirt “Tell anyone about this and I’ll kill you”  
“I know” He placed a kiss on the crown of her head.  
“For what it’s worth, I think you’d make a good cop”  
“Plus I am going to look so badass. Can you imagine all the movie scenes I could act out?”  
“Die Hard”  
“God, I love you little sis” He gushed, squeezing her tightly  
Offended, she shoved him off the bed “I’m 6 months older than you!”

 

Jake, Gina, Darlene and Karen were all sitting around the latter’s kitchen table. The air was heavy with grief and filled with an uncomfortable silence. The foursome had spent the day bidding farewell to their beloved mother/nana/friend. Few people had turned up to the service – Nana was very old and did not have many friends left. The sight of such an empty memorial had brought tears to her eyes, tears she’d willingly shed onto her mother’s coat-clad shoulder. She never wanted to be that alone. When she died, thousands would mourn her. Gina would make sure she was never forgotten, and in turn she would make sure Nana was never truly forgotten ether.  
“The precinct is gonna get a new civilian administrator” Jake suddenly broke the tension.  
Grateful for some conversation, Karen asked “Really? What happened to what’s-his-name?”  
“Quit. Got a better off I guess”  
Gina wasn’t about to let this opportunity slip by, funeral or not “Jake you have to get me that job!”  
“What?” He scoffed “You want to be a civilian administrator? You want to have to deal people all day?”  
“Jake, I’m assistant manager at a kiosk in a mall. Trust me nothing could be worse than Hell”  
“Hey Gina, remember when you didn’t want me to become a cop?” Jake joked, never passing up an opportunity to rib his little sister, having been on the receiving end of her razor sharp wit too many times for comfort  
“Please, Jake” She dismissed his jib out of hand “I’m begging you. I’ll owe you big time.”  
“If I get you this job you’ll owe me a chit?”  
“Yes”  
“That I can cash in at any time?”  
“Yes”  
“Gina Linetti, you just got yourself a deal” For the first time in what felt like years, but had really only been a matter of days, Jake and Gina grinned at each other.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello and welcome to another chapter of 'billie projects onto fictional characters instead of dealing with her trauma'

Rosa had never believed in soulmates – the very notion that there was only one perfect person in the world for everyone was, quite frankly, ridiculous. She had grown up in a house of romantics, so her infant years had been filled with her mother’s explaining the intricate details of the joy of hearing those immortal words emblazoned on your wrist, while her sisters listened raptly and gushed about their future husbands. Honestly, the whole thing made Rosa want to hurl. The matter wasn’t helped by her tattoo. While her sisters had names or cheesy (but kind of cute, although Rosa would never admit it) pick-up lines, Rosa’s simply read “Don't tell me what to do!”. Any man who said something ridiculous like that to her would undoubtedly get a knife in the gut, soulmate or not. It was for this reason that she always kept her wrist covered so that no one could see her tattoo. Attending ballet school sometimes posed a problem, the leotards weren't exactly long sleeved.

Her parents died when she was eleven. She didn't cry. Being the oldest she felt it was her responsibility to keep it together for Bianca and Lisa, to protect them as best as she could. As none of their relatives lived in America, the three Diaz sisters found themselves in foster care. They ended up with the Crawford's, a middle-class family consisting of a stay-at-home mom, a hardworking dad, and a teenage girl. The daughter, Emily, was the antithesis of Rosa. She was lively, girly, and obsessed with boybands.   
Living with the Crawford's didn't dampen Bianca and Lisa's appetite for the romantics. They constantly regaled their foster family with the same tales they'd tell their parents about how they'd meet their soulmates.  
“What about you Rosa? How are you going to fall in love?” Mrs Crawford asked one afternoon.  
“I'm not” She said simply, kicking herself off the couch and walking away from her gawking sisters.  
She could feel everyone's eyes following her as she left the room. Rosa had always kept her emotions bottled up inside and would snarl in disgust if someone even tried to broach a touchy subject in her vicinity. Her parent's had always been scared that their beloved daughter would internalise so much that it would consume her soul; it would tear her spirit to pieces and Rosa would have no idea how to call out for help.

Rosa slumped in the chair in front of the Principal's desk. She ran a hand over her bruising knuckles as she sat in silence. It was beginning the throb steadily.  
“Miss Diaz, we have a very strict policy on violence here”  
Crossing her arms in front of her chest, Rosa sank lower in her chair.  
With a sigh, the Principal continued “Would you care to explain why you punched Miss Forte?”  
Rosa shrugged non-concomitantly.  
“Rosa, I'm not going to ask you again”  
She remained silent for a beat more before shifting uncomfortably “She said…” she trailed off into mumbling.  
“I'm sorry?”  
“She said my parent's aren't dead. That they probably got bored with me and ran off” Her voice was quiet, barely audible. She blinked her eyes rapidly, trying to hold back the tears that were beginning to brim there “She said no one wants me around... I shouldn't be here”  
“I know you're going through a really tough time right now. Miss Forte should not have said what she did, but violence is not the answer. You're a good student, Rosa, and I'm going to place you on a warning. Do it again and I'll have no choice but to expel you, you understand?”  
“Yes. Thank you Ma'am” She sniffed.  
“We've called your foster mother –”  
“No –” She tried to interrupt.  
Silencing the girl with a raised hand “She's going to pick you up and take you home. You can come back tomorrow morning”  
The door behind Rosa banged open “Rosa, what were you thinking?” Mrs Crawford demanded, the moment she entered the room. “You can't hit people!”  
The girl just turned her head away from her, surreptitiously whipping her eyes. She ground her teeth in frustration.  
Taking a seat beside her, Sarah grabbed hold of her shoulder “Rosa, are you listening to me? You've gone way too far this time, young lady!”  
Snapping, Rosa hissed “Do you even care why I did it?”  
“It doesn't matter why, punching people is never okay!”  
“You're not my mother” She muttered, kicking at the chair leg in frustration.  
“What did you say?”  
Swivelling so that they were face to face, Rosa snarled “I said you're not my mother, Sarah” Her words were carefully enunciated, as if speaking to a child, and there was venom behind them.

After tossing and turning for hours, Rosa finally gave up and rolled out of bed. She crept along the corridor to the kitchen. On her way she passed the living room, where Sarah was on the phone to their social worker. At the sound of her foster mother's voice, Rosa flattened herself against the wall so she could listen in whilst avoiding detection.  
“Look, I like the girls.” She said, pacing around the room “Bianca and Lisa are little darlings. They get along really well with my Emily. It's just Rosa's … difficult.”  
Rosa's breath caught in her throat and her heart stopped dead at the words.  
“She's disrespectful and rude. She doesn't listen, she acts out. She causes trouble at school, I've been down to the Principal's Office so many times these past few months. I can't deal with her anymore”  
Eyes pricking with tears, Rosa turned and fled back to her room. She threw herself onto the bed and buried her head in the crease between the pillow and the wall. Tears spilled down her cheeks uncontrollably, soaking her pillow. At some point during the night, Rosa fell asleep curled up tightly in a ball.

The next morning, Sarah called the three of them downstairs “Girls, we want to talk to you about something”  
They sat down on the couch in silence, sensing that something was not right. Rosa's fists were clenching and unfurling at her sides, she knew what was about to happen. The air was thick as they glanced at each other, wide-eyed.  
“Okay first I want to make it very clear that we love you guys being here. You're all amazing girls, but the thing is we're not sure it's working out”  
“Did we do something wrong?” Lisa asked, scared.  
“No, no, sweetie, you didn't do anything wrong. We just think that maybe someone else might be able to take better care of the three of you”  
Screwing her face up in pain for a second, Rosa took the plunge “Bianca and Lisa aren't the problem. If I go, can they stay?”   
“No!” The younger Diaz girls protested, throwing themselves at Rosa as if she was going to suddenly turn into smoke and slip through their fingers.  
Rosa pushed them both off of her lap, in order to get through this conversation she needed to avoid every distraction possible. She bit down hard on her lip, desperately battling against the stinging in her eyes.  
Sarah’s face crumpled as she realised the girl had heard everything she’d been saying over the phone the previous night “Rosa –”  
“Don’t worry” She cut her off dismissively “I get it. I’m too much”

It took their caseworker a few days to find somewhere suitable for Rosa to go. Her last day with her sisters was emotional. The previous night, the three girls had fallen asleep huddled together in Rosa's small bed. In the morning Lisa had woken Rosa up by kicking her in the back. She'd then spent the rest of the morning clinging to Rosa's leg. When her social worker pulled up outside, the little ones began to cry.  
“Please don't go”  
Rosa knelt down in front of them, placing her hands on their shoulders supportively, lacing her fingers into their curly hair “I have to. I'll see you every Sunday. You be good for Sarah and Joe, okay?”  
They nodded through their tears. Throwing their arms around her shoulders and squeezing her tightly.  
“Come on, Rosa, it's time to leave”  
She nodded, hugging Bianca and Lisa back she said “Bye. I'll miss you” Climbing into the car she shut the door behind her. Buckling her belt and rolling down the window she stuck her arm out to wave at her sisters as the car peeled away. She didn't let herself cry until there was no way they could see her.  
“You okay, Rosa?” Her social worker asked, looking in the rear view mirror.  
Brushing away her tears, she turned her head to her side so she didn't have to make eye contact with her “I'm fine”

Rosa spent the next 7 years bouncing from group home to group home, with the occasional short lived spell in a foster home. Nothing ever stuck for longer than a few months. She visited her sisters every Sunday after church like clockwork. It sometimes hurt deep inside seeing them in such a loving family with so many inside jokes with their family; knowing that she wasn't part of it. Eventually she aged out of the system. It took her a while to find her footing completely on her own in the world. While she may have felt alone for a long time, there was always an adult who paid for basic necessities: food, electricity, the roof over her head. She spent the vast majority of her time trying to find a job to support herself. 

She met Jake her first day at the academy. The pair of them were in the same training squad. At first she wasn't sure how to feel about him. He was like one giant walking joke. Everything he said was ridiculous, his hair was stupid, and he was disrespectful. The last point was something Rosa actually admired (but would never cop to). Eventually she decided he was one of the good guys – after he got in trouble for punching a guy who apparently been saying misogynistic things behind her back.  
“Thanks for what you did”  
He shrugged “No problem I –”  
“But just so we're clear: I can deal douche bags myself” Her voice was verging on threatening.  
“Oh, no doubt!” He elbowed her gently in the side “But what are friends for other than getting their hands dirty so you don't have to”  
Despite everything, she found herself grinning back.

When Rosa got offered a promotion from beat cop to detective for the 99th precinct, she took the job immediately. It was a huge step up for her. Instead of patrolling all day, she got to work actual cases, and have an actual desk, and wear her own clothes instead of the scratchy uniform. When there was an opening for another detective on the squad, she immediately recommended Jake for the job.  
Eventually the squad became like a family to her. Amy started working there. The second she opened her mouth Jake had dropped the coffee he was holding. Apparently they were soulmates, or whatever. They started dating, then moved in together. They were happy. Or whatever. Rosa wasn't really paying attention. She still didn't buy into that soulmate crap. The idea that some ink on your skin could determine whether you'd be happy or not, was still ridiculous.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this took me so long to write idk why. i've literally done nothing but work on this for 4 days straight instead of going to school. also i found out that chelsea peretti wrote my favourite parks and rec episode so now i love her even more.

**Author's Note:**

> Did Nana call Gina 'Goose'? I know Jake did. Anyway, now she did
> 
> Title from Sia's song 'Gasoline' because it is awesome.
> 
> Catch me screaming about Dianetti at any given time at clara-letmebebrave.tumblr.com


End file.
